Celebrating Lunch Bunch

This year is lucky number seven!

Knowing the importance of food, gathering, and community support makes us very proud of our Lunch Bunch Program which celebrates its 7th year this September. We are so appreciative of the Lunch Bunch Team who always serve with their hearts first. We also want to acknowledge our tireless volunteer drivers who are always willing to ensure rides to and from Lunch Bunch – helping to make the program as accessible as possible. 

The idea of Lunch Bunch was born from having many seniors who had shown up to MIALS’s 10 year anniversary celebration with walkers, wheelchairs and other forms of assistance earlier in 2017. Seeing a need and opportunity for more socialization, May Mackenzie and Colleen Ming wanted to work together in tandem with the Mayne Island Health Centre Association to connect seniors socially more often over shared meals on the island. At the time, Bonnie Horsfall and Jody Waldie were co-chairs and together with MIHCA, spearheaded by Colleen, they worked to receive a grant from the Victoria Foundation with much appreciated support from Lindsay Allan and Cilla Brooke. Our earliest committee for the Lunch Bunch included Colleen, Jody, Lindsay, and Cilla. There was also a fundraiser at Dinner Bay Park which was led by Bonnie, further cementing community support and the future of the program that we know today.

Some of our very first lunches were cooked up by Linda Steele and Colleen who catered the lunches with soup and sandwiches. We officially launched on September 18th, 2017 and have successfully run since then. Through COVID, our faithful and trusty volunteers and co-ordinators found a way – they bagged and delivered lunches ensuring bellies were full and connection within the community remained tangible.

Over the years we have also been lucky to be graced with some amazing presentations from islanders. We are so thankful to our many invited presenters who help make the program fresh each time. Presentation subjects have had a wide range of topics. From beloved community members we have learned about arts, crafts, and hobbies; important topics of health and services on Mayne Island; we’ve had the opportunity to travel through countless and treasured photos and stories as well as explore technology like AI! Together we have had the opportunity to celebrate births, birthdays, anniversaries, community events, and deaths. 

Of course, we couldn’t offer this program without the years of community support from organizations, businesses, and attendees. It takes a whole island to help this program run. We have had the pleasure to host the very beginning days at the church house then at the Paddy Lambert, and finally transitioning to the community centre. Ingredients for meals are gladly accepted and utilized from the Lions, RavenVale, local farms, the Food Bank, True Valu, and Trading Post; Thank you. We have been able to continue to grow thanks to your nurturing. 

Over the lifespan of Lunch Bunch we have served over 5,000 Lunch Bunch meals – almost all of them supervised by our fearless chef and co-ordinator Sue; we are grateful for all of her hard work, heart, and soul that goes into every single Lunch Bunch offering. Rain, sleet, snow, heat domes – she steadily guides the ship!

Communal meals have had a long standing tradition for many organizations on Mayne Island and MIALS is thrilled to continue this offering into the future; after all, the simple act of sharing a meal together can be a cornerstone in supporting a strong, connected, and thriving community and we are excited you are all apart of ours.

We are always looking to present interesting topics or meals from people who are passionate – if you have something you’d like to present or would like to step in as a “Guest Chef” please reach out to Sue and give us a call at 250-213-6191